Class Four
by bw29853
Summary: Love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity. Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work towards a healthy mind and body. - The Academy, Konoha no Sato, Challenge in Profile concerning this one shot.


**Konoha no Sato: The Academy**

**Student Pre-evaluation Screening**

_Love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity._

_Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work towards _

_a healthy mind and body._

Sponsor: Konoha no Sato, Orphans Fund and Recruitment Division Two

Naruto Uzumaki

Age: 6

Height: 42 inches {Average}

Weight: 46.2 lbs {Average}

Personality: Hyperactive {Prone to acting out for attention.}

Attention Span: 1/10

Focus: Unknown, {Possible Ninjutsu}

Rank: Undergrad

Class: Four

Class Rank: Unranked

Chakra Level: 10/10 {Compared to Classmates.}

Chakra Control: 1/10

Special Skills: Redacted

Intelligence: 4/10 {Basic Skills only.}

Medical Checkup: 3/12/345 of the Third Era.

Medical: Lacking nutrients, dieting problems, repressed depression tendencies.

Father: Redacted

Mother: Redacted

Comments: Redacted

Uzumaki Naruto was an interesting file to read, the Hokage of the village thought, although knowing the boy personally he knew the file didn't do Naruto justice. Ah the boy could be a handful at times but he was also a very emotional, borderline bipolar, child who only wished to make friends and be acknowledged.

Sarutobi Hiruzen set the boys file down before picking up the next set, 'class four will be a handful,' he read almost every major clan on the list and quite a large group of children from shinobi families, the class totaled at thirty-nine, which wasn't a lot considering it was a post war era group.

A knock sounded on his door and he gave a command to allow the person entrance, Uchiha Itachi walked in and kneeled in front of him respectively, "Stand," the boy stood, his face completely neutral to any emotion, "What is the situation with the Uchiha clan?"

"Most if not all of the clan members have negative feelings towards the village, bordering on hatred of their treatment. Younger members have been meeting over the past week in response to rumors that the clan leadership is planning something but nothing concrete." The boy finished his summary of the situation, he already had this information from a previous source from the Information Division of course but he needed this boys input on various positions.

"Your father," the Hokage took a drag from his tobacco pipe before blowing it upwards, "doesn't wish to further negotiations any further?"

"Hokage-sama, I do not think my father is at the center of this rumor, nor do I think there are any immediate actions being taken within the clan, the younger members are merely acting out of spite and flexing their muscles." Sarutobi nodded but wasn't convinced.

"It has come to my attention that he is ignoring these younger members, who no doubt are responsible for the vandalism at The Academy and other places of interest." Itachi didn't say a thing, merely waited for his leader to finish his thought. "Clearly he is claiming ignorance, but with such a small issue I won't push this any further than I have to... These tensions will begin to rise once again if these boys are not punished, he will be informed, and the chief of police will look into the matter."

Itachi nodded, "It would be wise to come personally to placate his prideful nature, my father would value even the smallest direct interactions." Sarutobi nodded, obviously...

Later that night the Hokage of Konoha sat in his home thinking incredibly deep about the issues of the day, on one hand his obligations to the village itself, on the other Naruto and the Uchiha clan were equally estranged from the rest of the populations, although for two very different reasons.

He thought of the past and his old teams, every team he had been on up until his promotion to Hokage, the good ones and the bad. How could he use this situation to either manipulate the village into truly believing the Uchiha clan had good intentions?

He spent the next three hours contemplating the issue before finally falling asleep. But not before coming up with one idea that could just be crazy enough to pull off.

The next three days were busy to say the least, Sarutobi had people running around like a war was about to begin at any moment, which technically wasn't a false statement if he stood on the wrong foot in these issues.

The plan was simple, make everyone happy and bring true peace back to his village. If everything went according to plan, and he would see to that, all constituents of this plan would be content with their situation.

The only problem with the plan was the citizens of the village as a whole as how they would interpret it correctly and back off the Uchiha as a whole, they didn't know, and wouldn't know the full extent to this plan in the end, no one did nor would they ever.

His three friends entered the office as he confirmed the last bit of intelligence concerning clan thoughts on a certain matter.

Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were students of the late Tobirama Senju, the Second Hokage along with himself and Danzō Shimura. The four of them were quite the team and had been quite powerful before they each retired to desk work. He wouldn't doubt Danzō's power for a second, even in his old age the old war hawk was renown in the ANBU for his skill.

"Ah my friends," they each took a seat in the room staring at him, "I suppose the rumor mill has be running full mast these past few days." He took out his pipe and lit it, taking a drag.

Danzō made a noise making his desire to speak known, "Clearly, you wish to hide this matter from the three of us," He stared down his old friend.

Hiruzen puffed out smoke gently leaning back in his chair for a moment, "You could say it's for the greater good of all of Konoha." He was looking directly at Danzō; he knew that saying would get a rise out of his old teammate.

Danzō didn't rise to the statement at all but clearly understood the underlying meaning, he had no choice but to listen.

"We on the other hand are extremely curious as to what could be so important that you would keep it this quite, even from us." Koharu spoke very strictly in her normal tone that clearly showed annoyance.

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked directly into each of their eyes before very powerfully speaking, "From this day forth the machinations towards the Uchiha clan will cease." Each of his friends sat up straighter tensing in the expected answer. "I have chosen to retire once again," Now their eyes widened a fraction as he continued to speak. "Effective one year from this date, my nominee has been approved by the Fire Daimyō under the condition that Jiraiya-kun bring him up to a strong Kage level shinobi. I have recalled Jiraiya-kun to train the nominee as soon as possible."

Danzō stood firmly before the desk, "How does this in anyway quell the Uchiha Rebellion taking place at this very moment within those walls." He pointed out the window towards their clan compound.

Sarutobi took a drag from his pipe, a move he knew would irritate his comrade, "My nominee is none other than Uchiha Itachi." Now all three of his friends were all their feet staring at him like he was going insane.

Homura was the first to speak, "He's only thirteen for kami-sake! How can you justify this decision?"

Koharu on the other hand was certainly not quite either, but her musings were spent thinking the situation through. Hiruzen had already seen to the nomination by contacting the Fire Daimyō and couldn't be overturned even if Hiruzen died early. "Very clever, Hiruzen." She said quietly before speaking up, "I agree with this, and accept this decision," Now her teammates were looking at her with unknowing eyes. "It's clear he's a very powerful shinobi, a genius that could rival the Forth Hokage. I look forward to the progress reports, and the final evaluation." She nodded.

Danzō was furious and he stood indignantly staring down at his old friend, "I do not agree with this and will have no part in it. Furthermore I wish to say this will be the end of the village if he isn't controlled and directed properly." Of course he had his eyes on the position, and for it to be taken by some child! Inwardly he cursed Hiruzen for completely destroying all his plans in three days time. He clenched his fist tightly before turning around and exiting the office without saying a word. He would have this office even if had to obtain it by force and take it from the boys dead hands!

The Hokage of Konoha sighed deeply at his wayward friend, that man is much too serious for his age. Finishing off his pipe he spoke to the now seated duo before him, "Now as you have been informed I expect you both to agree with this decision as it _is _in the best interest of all party members." Koharu nodded but Homura didn't look pleased either, being forced into the issue but they needed to remain strong even if divided internally, he nodded reluctantly. "Good then, well present a united front when the clan meeting starts in thirty minutes." Both his advisors eyes widened, and he chuckled.

The plan went off with only a couple of glitches, Itachi hadn't been informed of the meeting and it was only a direct meeting with Uchiha clan elders. They didn't fight his assignment nor the provisions provided with the appointment, it was an extremely high honor for a clan member to be chosen for the position.

The glitches per say were made only after he dropped the second bomb shell. He would be disbanding the Uchiha police force effective immediately and all shinobi would be readmitted back into the Konoha Ninja corps without delay.

This, of course, caused quite the ruckus but once he explained why they began to understand the reasoning behind the resentment that clouded the village, which was directly connected to the Uchiha and the Kyuubi. The village would still have all the necessary sections to detain any aggressive person within the village, as the compounded force of the entire village would be at their disposal.

He was still in affect removing most of the power the Uchiha had but he merely stated that no other clan had such power and this action would reimage the clan in the face of the villagers. He explained with the dispersal and death of all but one main house Senju the co-founding clan had dismantled itself to disperse the power it had. The Senju clan still had thousands upon thousands of descendents living within the village but none could claim the Senju clan name save one traveling slug sannin.

The Uchiha took the news well after he explained the reasoning, in hope of reducing the discontent within the village concerning the Uchiha they had to release their power. One group within the elders stated his plan was foolish because they had moved farther away from the village in the same attempt but failed drastically in the end. What could possibly make the people of Konoha truly accept the clan back into their good graces?

"Uchiha Itachi will become a Hero at the end of this year, he will become the Uchiha clan and you will follow him as he claims the title of Hokage. The village will see this and 'grace' you back into the goodness of their heart."

Most if not all of the Uchiha caved in the end, it wasn't a bad deal when you thought about it, they would return to being a normal shinobi village without the police division, assuming everything went as planned. And they would finally have a powerful Uchiha in the office as Hokage, something three generations coming in their mind. Until then Sarutobi promised he would provide any and all aid to the clan that he could manage without arising doubt within his own forces.

The only person who truly didn't look on his side was the father of his nominee, in fact he didn't have much emotion at all concerning this situation, merely a blank face as he stared at the Hokage throughout the speech. He met up with the Uchiha clan leader right after the meeting to discuss his concerns.

They didn't extend any pleasantries; the two men now alone were allowed to view each other without unneeded distractions. Sarutobi immediately understood the meaning of this meeting; it was a father to father conversation that he had predicted.

"My son will not be the tool of this village, nor will I allow him to become your stooge in these political talks, I understand the need to disperse the police division but my son is simply too young to take on such responsibilities." During his quick speech the Hokage of Konoha took out a pipe and gestured if he may smoke, the clan leader nodded.

The monkey summoner took a breath of tea countries finest tobacco before speaking, "You're wrong." The other man didn't interrupt him, "Itachi is currently stronger than you or anyone else in this entire clan, both in emotional maturity and his power."

"But you and I both know he has problems with war and the problems that follow in times of war. He despises conflict." Fugaku Uchiha knew his son better than this man he knew that.

"Also wrong," He paused for a moment to wait for a retort. But it was time to set the man straight. "Itachi despises needless conflict, for example this little conflict you had spiced up, your son knows everything you did, everything for the good of the clan." Fugaku visibly flinched. "Your son has the most powerful Will of Fire since the Forth Hokage, second to myself only in this village. He is devoted to his clan and his village to such an extent he would willingly spy on his own family for me." Fugaku Uchiha was now standing, with a furious face.

"You would dare! Using my own son-"

"I _would _dare." He said it with the full voice of all his power, the Hokage of Konoha, and the Shinobi no Kami was now standing. "You _obviously_ don't understand how close you came to becoming an extinct clan." He didn't yell but the other man stood transfixed. "Your son is obviously on an entirely differently level if you think for one moment I forced him to do this. The treasons you were committing daily by just talking, everything we have is much more than enough to convict every single adult Uchiha."

Fugaku sat back down, of course he was fully aware of the intentions of his clan in the previous weeks but to go to such lengths? His own son, Fugaku eyes widened as everything made sense, the distance Itachi was putting between himself and own family, it was clear the entire clan had dodged a bullet, one that could of killed them all.

"Itachi was working for you directly," Sarutobi nodded confirming the man's suspicions, he was staring at the ground ashamed, "He was helping you save everyone, including myself." The older man nodded again. "I understand and it's clear, my Itachi has become a man worthy of the title Kage, I remove any and all objections to his appointment." It was clear the man wanted to be alone after such meeting, the Hokage of Konoha stood before him once again.

"Itachi is the light to the Uchiha clan's darkness; he will become a very powerful leader, one that you should be proud of." The older man walked out without saying another word.

"Yes, Hokage-sama you wished to see me?" A black clad man-boy stood in front on the leaders' desk.

"I did, you may remove your mask Itachi-kun," He did so, holding at his side still as stiff as a board. "I must congratulate you on a job well done; all of my problems have been solved solely because of you."

"Sir?" Itachi didn't understand.

"The Uchiha clan has settled on an agreement, they will cease all hostilities towards Konoha, in turn I have promised two things, I will return the Uchiha to a good standing within this village, and a Uchiha will succeed myself in the office as Hokage."

Itachi visibly showed an emotion the older man couldn't quite place. "Sir?" Hiruzen nodded. "May I ask who has been chosen by yourself and the elder council?" Obviously he was suspicious of his clan, considering their actions in the past year.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled mischievously. "The next Hokage of this village and military leader of this country has been personally chosen by myself, my personal council, the Jōnin leadership along with the Fire Daimyō. His will of fire burns strong than my own, I will gladly leave my seat in his stead."

Itachi didn't move, he was thinking through every single person he had ever known.

Sarutobi slid a file over to him slowly. He took the file from the desk and opened it for three seconds before sitting in the chair before him. "I refuse." Sarutobi chuckled.

The Hokage of the Konoha had already thought of this of course, "Denied," He smiled at Itachi, "If you had refused before I made the deal with your clan leaders it might have been possible to turn back, but at this stage you don't have a choice." Itachi didn't make a sound but it was clear on his face that he didn't want this. "You must understand this is simply the best choice, for everyone including yourself."

"I do not believe I am at your level or even my father's level as a leader, he would be a better choice."

"Impossible after yesterday, some classified information concerning your previous assignments has come into the light." Itachi didn't move but inside he was a mix of emotions ranging from fear to hatred and back to fear again. "Also I will accept your father was and still is stronger than you in many areas but none are the ones required to run this village. But understand that I know what you now possess, with the death of Uchiha Shisui," Itachi was standing again, he looked ready to leave. "Those accursed eyes come with a price, you must be willing to give up a part of yourself, otherwise they will devour what you will possess. Uchiha Madara for example, he was the strongest Sharingan user in known history, but he was a most unstable man, going as far as to attack the First out of hatred."

"I will not become him; I am loyal to the Leaf." Sarutobi nodded, he was by far the most loyal shinobi in his forces. "But even with _those _eyes I do not think I could match even half of the skilled Jōnin in your forces."

"Hmm… Your probably right, you should quit." The voice was beside him, it scared him that someone could sneak up that easily.

"Sempai," Itachi nodded his head to Kakashi, "You're probably right."

"Idiot, you have no idea how strong you are compared to the rest of the village, even the Shinobi?" Kakashi closed his book and threw it at top speed towards the other man, Itachi caught it and Kakashi appeared before him and took the book from his hands. "Even subconsciously you activate your Sharingan in the face of a threat, awareness like that isn't trained."

Sarutobi coughed shortly, "If you're through?" Kakashi walked over to his side, and stood beside him. "Kakashi will be taking a break from missions, he will become your sparring partner and you will learn from him until Jiraiya arrives. At that time you will leave for nine months, during that time you will surpass him." Itachi didn't flinch at all at this information, "Once you return you will be placed into a position to make yourself and your clan look the hero before taking over for myself at the end of the year." Itachi nodded in understanding. "Finally I wish you give you some advice… let your father come to you and avoid him until he confronts you."

"Sir?"

"Your father has come to the conclusion that you are the sole reason his entire family is alive."

"I understand,"

Sarutobi's eyebrows rose a little, "Are you sure? He completely understands what was at stake, the man looked absolutely mortified when I left the room. I daresay he will be troubled by his own thoughts for quite some time."

"Thank you, sir." Itachi reached for his mask.

"Weasel no longer exists; all the paper records have been destroyed." The Hokage took the mask and incinerated it with his chakra manipulation.

Itachi understood, he would need a change of clothes also.

Two Years Later - Naruto: Age 8

One year had passed since the Village Hidden in the Leaves obtained its first Uchiha Hokage and everything was beginning to return to normal for all parties involved. Sarutobi Hiruzen stood at the entrance to The Academy, one year had been enough time for him, and retirement simply was too boring.

A blur shot past him as he walked into the building, he reached out and grabbed the little boy by the shirt as he tried to pass by, little Uzumaki Naruto didn't even see the man's hand move before he was jerked back onto his butt.

"Naruto," The boy looked up at him, "I see your late again," the boy wanted to speak but he didn't let him. "This will be the last day you will be late, do you understand?" The older man stared directly into his eyes.

Naruto simply smiled and rubbed his head, "I'll try old man!"

"You will be here on time, everyday, or I'll find ways to make you." Naruto gulped.

"Yea-h Su-re," He stuttered out.

Hiruzen smiled at Naruto as the boy stood, "Now we can continue on to your homeroom."

The Hokage of Konoha started walking leaving Naruto to follow in his steps, the boy caught up to the older man and looked up to the elder Hokage, "Your coming to my class! Is it cause that assembly?" Hiruzen nodded, "That's cool! Maybe you can stay and watch me throw Shuriken?"

"Maybe Naruto-Kun, we have a lot to talk about to, everyone in your class will begin learning how to truly become a ninja of this village today." Naruto widened his eyes for second, "Now enter and go sit down," the boy nodded and did as he was told. "Everything will change after today, Naruto."

As the old Hokage walked into the room it instantly quieted down all eyes trained on him. As expected the Chūnin attending the room was standing behind his desk, "Thank you, Miku-kun, you are excused from this class from today onwards," The Chūnin looked speechless, but nodded and bowed.

The older man took the space behind the desk, and reached for the desk grabbed a piece of chalk, "Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto," The two boys situated in back of the class next to each other stood, "Please come forward." Whispers instantly started up, the two boys were friends and didn't often get caught making trouble.

He snapped the chalk in half and handed each a piece, "I want you to draw thirteen boxes big enough to fit both your hands in if you place them on the board." They both nodded. The elderly man turned back to the children in the room, "Beginning today I will be controlling this class, anything you learned about before will be put to the test, you will no longer be placed into a rating system." It remained silent; the older man nodded as the two boys finished their boxes. "Number them for me, one through thirteen," The boys nodded and did as asked.

"Now beginning with these two boys we will form a line here," He pointed at the side of the desk. "You will tell me your name and I will tell you a number." Children began to rise fighting for places at the front. Sarutobi coughed suddenly gaining everyone's attention, "It matters not your place in line, now line up."

Once they did as asked each of the thirty-nine children signed their name in a box as he instructed them to, as each child finished he looked at the board.

Sarutobi picked back up one of the pieces of chalk and drew his own boxes, the children watched as he drew bigger boxes around three of the smaller boxes.

"Now it's done, from this point on the people within the same box as you are now your teammates, whether or not its permanent remains to be seen." Several children had they hands in the air after that statement, "Your Chūnin instructors will answer questions, and I will explain my thought process once we have rearranged ourselves." He held out his hands motioning upwards.

There was a lot of noise as children switched seats; overall they didn't organize in any special way. As the noise quieted down the elder man nodded thoughtfully, "Now I've divided these teams once again to place you with Chūnin instructors, teams one through three will study under Hito Fizuku, four through six will study under Kurenai Yūhi, seven through nine will study under Iruka Umino, and finally ten through thirteen will study under Suzume Ojike."

He paused for a moment to write out each teacher above he bigger box, "As I said before I will be removing the rating system as I find it to be unnecessary with this way of teaching, therefore we will as a class have a contest, each of these groups are equal save one, with the extra team, beginning in two years I will graduate three teams early," The class broke into whispers again, he coughed gaining their attention again, "These three teams will only graduate early if I pass them, there is no other standard beyond what I say. Now, beginning today any subject not related to ninja activities will no longer be taught in this class, instead you will study at home and take the test to prove you understand the course work." The entire class groaned, it was quite amusing for the older man.

Sarutobi noticed Naruto had his hand up, "One question, Naruto?"

Everyone was looked at the boy as he put his hands behind his head, "Thanks! What about the people who don't learn from books very well?" Some of the class started giggling, Hiruzen held his hand up.

"If you fail your test, your team also fails, you will need to work together to truly become a team in all aspects. Everyone here is capable of completing the course work, but remember if you don't help your teammates then you'll fail anyway." Nearly everyone in the class groaned again, he waited for it to stop, "If I find out anyone isn't helping his or her teammates on purpose, I will remove you from this program, do you all understand?" The class responded with a loud, 'Yes, Sir,' and the older man nodded.

"For today, we will be allowing you all to get to know each other, I want you all to get to know each other, become friends and then we will gather together into the squads of three or four to meet with the teachers at the end of the day. I can't force you to instantly become friends but it will be much easier to graduate if your teamwork is top notch." He closed his eyes and nodded, "Now, you have until two, and then the Chūnin instructors will arrive."

Sarutobi walked out of the room, intent on watching them from a distance with the Chūnin in the next room.

Uchiha Itachi watched the large screen of his predecessor as the man put his new experiment into action. It was a good idea considering the Academy graduation rates, and the actual skills Genin displayed after they were put into the field.

Recently he changed his mind about this type of teaching as a Jōnin teacher returned with two less students due to an ambush. He couldn't blame the Jōnin because of the nature of the attacker, one Kisame Hoshigaki, S-Class missing ninja from Kiri, also recently placed into Konoha bingo books with the same designation. The only reason they were able to escape was because of final Genin of the team thinking quickly on his feet.

His predecessor walked into the room and Itachi looked up from the screen, "If I had known better I'd say this reminded me of Root style training…" he paused for a moment, "Only they won't have to kill off their own emotions and supposedly forgo their teammate's lives at the end of this training." The older man had sat next to him, taking out his pipe.

Hiruzen lit it, and took a drag from the pipe, "This training is the exact opposite of _that _man's training," Itachi didn't argue back. "Naruto and Sasuke, what a team they already make."

Itachi nodded, his mother would be supremely happy with this decision, "Naruto spends almost every night at the house already, mother loves him."

"Truly, I didn't expect any less of her, that woman has a heart of gold and a strong will of fire to back it up." Itachi nodded, his mother was an extremely passionate woman. "I wasn't going to put myself in her outs and suggest a different arrangement, mothers can be very scary."

"And the girl? Her test scores are all over the place, a one on the physical exam." Itachi cited from memory.

"Sakura Haruno is an interesting individual, her psych-eval's are extremely high, nearly as high as Shikamaru." The Uchiha let his eyes raise a little, "But I suppose you seen all that, no what I see in the girl is something much more terrifying." The older man started on his pipe again, letting it slowly blow out towards the screen. "I see a little bit of Tsunade in her."

"Truly?" Sarutobi nodded. "It will be Interesting, if she decides to go the same path as your old student then this team will become extraordinary to watch."

"She will, I have already seen her talent in manipulating chakra, even at this young age I can see her going just as far as Tsunade if not farther… But we must remain vigilant else our past mistakes take form once again." Itachi only nodded, he knew all too well of the past and the demons that lay in wait.

Two Years Later - Naruto: Age 10

Three shuriken shot out of the tree as someone darted across the landscape, the figure dodged to the left but still took another shuriken to his armor, as it bounced off the figure cursed, instantly it stopped and he rose is hand.

A noise sounded throughout the air, "Fuck!"

"NARUTO! What have I told you about cussing! It's rude!" He looked up to his pink-haired teammate towering over him.

"Sorry Sakura, but I was so close!" Another boy in all black appeared beside him, "Sorry Sasuke." Sasuke merely waved it off.

"It's only practice, I barely hit you that time, and considering I'm the best shot in the class we should be okay for the survival exam."

Naruto smirked, "The best shot eh?" Sakura smacked him over the head lightly.

"Boys…" She walked off intent for the clearing nearby.

"What?" Naruto looked absolutely dumbfounded.

Nine members of the squad known as Squad Iruka stood in the nearby field waiting for the final member to show his face.

"Why is Shikamaru always late!" Ino Yamanaka yelled out, staring at Chōji Akimichi.

Chōji held up his free hand, "Don't look at me, it's just his personality!" he reached for a handful of chips.

Naruto was lying down in the grass next to Sakura who was talking rapidly to a Hinata Hyūga about some new technique they were learning to remove poison using their chakra. "We should get another game of Ninja going! If he's going to be this late we'll make him the target." He was smiling from the ground, Kiba nodded next to him.

"If I had my dog we could track him down!" Kiba Inuzuka laughed out loud.

Naruto started laughing too; he turned over in fits, "Imagine your puppy chasing him up a tree!"

They both continued laughing for a few moments.

Iruka cleared his throat; each member of his squad looked up, "Shikamaru is finally here." Lazily strolling into the field with his hands in his pockets and his eyes closed as if walking and sleeping at the same time, Shikamaru strode up to the group and plopped down onto the grass.

"About time you lazy ass!" This earned Naruto looks from Ino and Hinata and smack in the head from his pink haired teammate.

Shikamaru didn't even look up.

Iruka cleared his throat again, "As you all know this weekend is the final survival exam, Sarutobi-sama will be in attendance, he will be determining if you're all ready for active duty or another year of training."

"We're definitely ready!" Naruto said out loud, a couple of others agreed with him.

Iruka nodded, "Of course you are, but we need to finalize team and squad leadership and discuss current intelligence." Intelligence was of course guarded and each squad had the right to search it out but if caught the team would lose points under the current system.

The current leader of the squad was Iruka but teachers were unable to help his or her squad therefore playing a lesser role in the planning of each exam.

The current internal Intel unit was Sasuke, Hinata, and Shikamaru. Each of them could obtain the necessary information but the top level information was only possible with the help of a three member unit.

"We know pretty much everything about the test besides the location, unless Shikamaru somehow found that out." Said Sasuke, everyone looked over to the sleeping boy; Ino kicked him in the side forcing him to flinch in pain. "We should be able to get that information by the time of the exam."

Iruka nodded. "Does anyone have any objections to the current leadership?" Nobody made a sound, "We will have a blind vote for Squad leadership, everyone take this and write his or her name on it, do not sign your own name because I can tell from your hand writing who is who." He handed paper slips out to the group.

A couple of minutes later the results had been tallied. Four: Naruto, Three: Sasuke, Two: Shikamaru.

"Naruto is the winner, interesting." A couple of people clapped him on the back.

"What? I can't be leader, I'm not even a team leader." Naruto looked over the results.

Iruka laughed, "A good leader is someone who brings together a unit of people, someone who has the faith is each of his friends to bring them through situations and I agree you do have the strongest Will of Fire on this squad." This of course caused Naruto to blush, the meeting ended there and the squad went home for the night.

"Who'd you vote for?" Naruto said walking down the street.

Sasuke didn't even look over, "You first."

"Well you're already the team leader, so it made sense to name you."

Sasuke laughed at this, causing confusion to race through Naruto's mind. "My thoughts exactly! You don't understand the affect you have on people yet, listen to Iruka for once in your life."

This situation still confused him, but whatever, in the end they would prevail! They would never give up, until the very end!


End file.
